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Regia Marina
The Regia Marina (Royal (Italian) Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) in 1861 after Italian unification (il Risorgimento) and the birth of Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana), the Regia Marina was divided in two parts and the other changed its name to Marina Militare, ((Italian) Navy) as it was now the navy of the Italian Republic. Regia Marina is now today the naval arm of the Fascist Italian Armed Forces of the Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy. It's the largest navy in the Mediterranean Sea. Origins The Regia Marina was established on 17 March 1861 following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. Just as the Kingdom was a unification of various states in the Italian peninsula, so the Regia Marina was formed from the navies of those states, though the main constituents were the navies of the former kingdoms of Sardinia and Naples. The new Navy inherited a substantial number of ships, both sail- and steam-powered, and the long naval traditions of its constituents, especially those of Sardinia and Naples, but also suffered from some major handicaps. Firstly, it suffered from a lack of uniformity and cohesion; the Regia Marina was a heterogeneous mix of equipment, standards and practice, and even saw hostility between the officers from the various former navies. These problems were compounded by the continuation of separate officer schools at Genoa and Naples, and were not fully addressed until the opening of a unified Naval Academy, Accademia Navale di Livorno at Livorno in 1881. Secondly, unification occurred during a period of rapid advances in naval technology and tactics, as typified by the launch of La Gloire by France in 1858, and later by the appearance of, and battle between, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia in 1862. These innovations quickly made older warships obsolete. Italy did not possess the shipyards or infrastructure to build the modern ships required, but the then Minister for the Navy, Admiral Carlo di Persano, launched a substantial programme to purchase warships from foreign yards. Seven Weeks War The new navy's baptism of fire came on 20 July 1866 at the Battle of Lissa during the Third Italian War of Independence (parallel to the Seven Weeks War). The battle was fought against the Austrian Empire and occurred near the island of Vis in the Adriatic sea. This was one of the few fleet actions of the nineteenth century, and as a major sea battle that involved ramming, it had a profound, though with hindsight a detrimental, effect on warship design and tactics. The Italian fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, mustered 12 ironclad and 17 wooden-hulled ships, though only one, the Italian battleship Affondatore, was of the most modern turret ship design. Despite a marked disadvantage in numbers and equipment, superior handling by the Austrians under Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff resulted in a severe defeat for Italy, which lost two armoured ships and 640 men. Following the defeat at Lissa the Regia Marina made significant advances towards recovery. In 1881, the Italian battleship Duilio was commissioned, followed in 1882 by the Italian battleship Enrico Dandolo; at the time these were the most powerful warships in the world. In 1896 the corvette Magenta completed a circumnavigation of the world. The following year the Regia Marina conducted experiments with Guglielmo Marconi in the use of radio communications. 1909 saw the first use of aircraft with the fleet. Italo-Turkish War In 1911 and 1912, the Regia Marina was involved in the Italo-Turkish War against forces of the Ottoman Empire. The first aircraft carrier built in the world, an 200 meters long aircraft carrier, saw its first combat during the Italo-Turkish War where she sank three Turkish battleships. World War I